Do Diffractive Intraocular Lenses Break the Beneficial Interaction Between Chromatic and Monochromatic Aberrations in the Eye?

This study investigates whether a diffractive presbyopia-correcting multifocal intraocular lens disrupts the favorable interaction between chromatic and monochromatic aberrations in the eye. This is analyzed not only for distant objects but also for closer viewing distances, where the lens utilizes different diffraction orders depending on its design. We consider diffractive designs based on the zero-diffraction order for far vision and the first diffraction order for near vision (i.e., 0F/+1N design). Within the limitations of clinical visual acuity examination in various groups of subjects, our results prove that diffractive presbyopia-correcting lenses with 0F/+1N design preserve the beneficial interaction between chromatic and monochromatic aberrations at both far and near vision. The results are obtained for lenses with varying energy efficiency distributions between the far and near focal points, ranging from balanced (bifocal contact lens) to far-dominant (50% far, 30% near in a trifocal intraocular lens) configurations. These findings are specific to the 0F/+1N design and cannot be extrapolated to other diffractive lens types.